A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the beverage can manufacturing art, and more particularly to a metal beverage can construction that has a resealable pour spout feature.
B. Description of Related Art
For many years, can manufacturers have attempted to arrive at an aluminum beverage can in which partially consumed contents can be resealed inside the can after the can has been opened. A can having such a feature presents obvious advantages to the consumer, such as avoidance of spills, the preservation of the freshness of the product, the preservation of carbonation of the product (in the case of soft drinks or beer), and the option to consume only a portion at one sitting and reserve the rest of the contents for later.
The prior art shows various attempts at resealable beverage containers, including Spreitzer, U.S. design patent D436,539 and Plester, U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,428. Other patents of interest relating to containers with pour spouts include Norwood, U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,173; Higuchi, U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,964; Melrose, U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,826; Chlystun, U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,522; Summers, U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,966; Reike, U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,654 and Livingstone, U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,750.
The Plester patent describes a pop-out pour spout in a convention can body. The present invention provides significant advantages over the design of the Plester patent, in that a can in accordance with the present invention can may be entirely made from metal and does not have plastic components, whereas the Plester patent has a substantial plastic component—the plastic spout. The presence of the plastic pour spout in the Plester patent prevents the Plester can from being recycled with ordinary aluminum cans; thus it presents a solid waste disposal issue. Conversely, the present inventive container can be made entirely of aluminum alloy and be recycled with other aluminum cans. Additionally, the Plester can be relatively cumbersome and difficult to open and requires more steps, and is thus less attractive to the consumer.